Plot:
A demon possesses the body of a man after he performs a satanic ritual.

Our thoughts:
"Encosto" is named after a Brazilian demon that takes over your body after its been summoned, and essentially that's the entire plotline of this short film. A guy performs a satanic ritual, and is then later on being taken over by the demon. Fairly plotless, sure, but we're talking about 7 minutes of entertainment here - short films are free to mess around a bit. Especially when it's done with such style as "Encosto".

Stylistically, it relies of being colorful but making sure that the dark is pitch black. A nice contrast, as it brings out the strength of the colors and adds to making it a visual treat - not just a short horror film. But it's in the effect shot that "Encosto" takes shape, and sadly ends way too soon. Filmmaker Joel Caetano acted in Rodrigo Aragão's entertaining monster horror "Night of the Chupacabras" and has been part of his new "Mar Negro" - and Rodrigo actually worked on "Encosto" as the SPFX guy, which was a great surprise to me. You can tell someone with some skill was brought in, as the finale is maintaining a fun style, but still making simplicity work wonders.

The transformation from man to demon is quite interesting and something I hope Joel Caetano will work further on. I can't say that "Encosto" has enough plot to expand into a feature, but the idea and the style of the demon should definitely be recycled in a larger project. The simple fact that the demon is black and takes over half his body (probably more to come) is just surprisingly effective.

Again, it is a shame that it ends in the middle of something great. But it's pleasing as a little tidbit of horror with very few faults. If anything, calling the demon "Satan" puts an unnecessary stamp on it. Whether it is Satan or not, is besides the point. In the end, I am really impressed with what Joel Caetano created for a 7 min short, and hope to see much more from him and the people he has surrounded himself with.